30 December
Record breaking adventures...with popcorn!
Colm Magee and Ambarish Keenan were amongst a team drawn from over 20 countries around the world aiming to break the 20-foot record mark for the tallest popcorn structure by a whole seven meters. The aim: to create a 27-foot high cake by August 27, in time to present to renowned spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy on the occasion of his 75th birthday, made only out of popcorn bound together with dissolved sugar and palmoil.
The 55-strong team spent more almost two weeks constructing the 5440kg structure, dealing with problems ranging from trying to source enough popcorn, to very un-New York rain showers which made working conditions very difficult indeed during the final stages of construction. The cake itself was five layers high, and was topped with a popcorn statue by noted sculptor, Kaivalya Torpy.
The cake was built during a gathering of 1,500 of Sri Chinmoy's students in New York, one of the thrice-yearly opportunities for students to visit their teacher in his home town. Around this time, there are meditation functions twice a day, but also musical performances, inspiring plays, in fact there's something going on to suit every musical, artistic or athletic temperament.
This is not the first time members of the Dublin Sri Chinmoy Centre have helped Ashrita in his record-breaking quest:
- In August 2005, Ambarish and Colm were joined by Colm's brother, Shane , as they helped to light the most candles on a birthday cake (27,000).
- In August 2004 Shane helped to construct the largest bouquet of flowers ever created (101,000 roses).
Related links
- Ashrita's website - including a recent blog where he describes his latest feats!
- blog entry about the cake by Shardul Dillicar from New Zealand
- Picture gallery by Jowan Gauthier
Stories
First-hand experiences of meditation and spirituality.
The day my Guru accepted me as his disciple
Banshidhar Medeiros San Juan, Puerto Rico
Sri Chinmoy meets an old friend
Pradhan Balter Chicago, United States
Sri Chinmoy meets St. Peter
Paramita Jarvis Kingston, Canada
The day I made a useless and ridiculous weightlifting machine for Guru
Devashishu Torpy London, United Kingdom
The Swimming Relay
Toshala Elliott Auckland, New Zealand
I was just so transported by the atmosphere
Pulak Viscardi New York, United States
My love of spiritual poetry
Manatita Hutchinson London, United Kingdom
The Ever-Transcending Goal
Preetidutta Thorpe Auckland, New Zealand
How my spiritual search led me to Sri Chinmoy
Vidura Groulx Montreal, Canada
Sri Chinmoy's biography, written by one of the most famous Bengali authors
Mahatapa Palit New York, United States
My first Guru
Adarini Inkei Geneva, Switzerland
Learning to love songs ever more
Patanga Cordeiro São Paulo, Brazil
Muhammad Ali: I was expecting a monster, but I found a lamb
Sevananda Padilla San Juan, Puerto RicoSuggested videos
interviews with Sri Chinmoy's students
How Sri Chinmoy appreciated enthusiasm
Prachar Stegemann Canberra, Australia
Selfless Service
Brian David Seattle, United States
A direct line to God
Vajra Henderson New York, United States
How can we create harmony in the world?
Baridhi Yonchev Sofia, Bulgaria
A childhood meeting with Sri Chinmoy
Devashishu Torpy London, United Kingdom
The relationship between Guru and disciple
Baridhi Yonchev Sofia, Bulgaria
Starting a spiritual café
Toshala Elliott Auckland, New Zealand
Except where explicitly stated otherwise, the contents of this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. read more »
SriChinmoyCentre.org is a Vasudeva Server project.